Film shot in Palestine highlights Peace Day in Tonasket

TONASKET – The premier showing for North-Central Washington of the film “5 Broken Cameras,” will be the main attraction of the Third Annual International Peace Day program in Tonasket on Friday, Sept. 21 at the Community Cultural Center.

An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, “5 Broken Cameras” is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements.

Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. Structured around the violent destruction of each one of Burnat’s cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost.

The event will take place at the Community Cultural Center at 411 Western Ave. in Tonasket on Friday, Sept. 21 beginning with a Peace Dinner at 5:30 pm. Veterans for Peace and Columbiana are sponsoring the Third Annual Peace Day program.

Marianne Torres (Spokane) and Bill Dienst, M.D. (Omak) will be on hand to share their experiences of being in Bil’in, West Bank, and their extensive Palestinian activism.

Bill Dienst, M.D., an editor and coauthor of “Freedom Sailors,” will speak about these accounts of the first voyage of the Free Gaza Movement which broke the 41-year-old maritime siege of the Gaza Strip, and how they succeeded in initiating non-violent actions in support of Gaza which have followed since. Dienst will conduct a book signing and sale of his book. To order their book or for additional information about ordering “Freedom Sailors,” go to http://freedomsailors.com.